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What's all this about an MA in Black British Writing...?

8/12/2014

 
Picture
In September I attended an event at Goldsmith’s University entitled, ‘Black British writers in conversation’. When I signed up for my free ticket, I anticipated a round table forum with writers such as Bernadine Evaristo, Andrea Levy, Donna Daley-Clarke, Zadie Smith, Jacob Ross, Courttia Newland etc., discussing aspects of writing – their journeys into writing, the stumbling blocks they have faced (or still do) as black writers; the publishing world and the best way forward for writers etc. Lovely…. This could not be missed, I thought.

First I hit a bad start. That afternoon, I got to the station to find that due to flooding (we’d had a massive down-pour earlier) no trains were running from Ilford to Liverpool Street. I took another route – you know – going backwards to come forward again, and eventually made it to the event one hour late!

I walked in, sweat dripping down my neck and lower back and tip-toed to an available seat. There were two black women on the stage: Bernadine Evaristo and another, whom I later learnt was Andrea Stuart. At the time she was reading from her published autobiography. The writing was engaging enough to draw me in and give my body some time to cool down.  

There was a third woman on the stage and, because she was white, I wondered why she was there. It soon became clear that she was the chair. Deirdre Osborne.

Was this it? I asked myself, after Andrea Stuart finished reading her piece. True it was difficult for me to get into the event, having arrived so late, but I couldn’t help wondering: Where are the rest of the black writers? I looked around the theatre. There were between 70-100 of predominantly young black people, but a whole block of vacant seats. Out of the questions from the audience, I found the most interesting ones to be around ‘Exhibit B’, and the MA in Black British Writing, Performance and Drama.
My journalistic curiosity began to bubble.

Today, you can read my finished article published in The Voice newspaper on Thursday 4th December, by clicking here.



Audley Stewart
9/12/2014 10:29:38 am

Nice intro for the article, which I found informative and of course, as with many others I should imagine, an eye-opener.

Regarding the event, why in your opinion was there so few "known" black writers in attendance?



S A Edward link
9/12/2014 08:00:29 pm

Thank you for your comments Audley.
I did ask the course convener, Deirdre Osborne why there were only two black writers on the panel. She informed me that one of her aims for organising the 'Black writers in conversation' event was to enable the two writers (i.e. Bernadine Evaristo and Andrea Stuart) to get familiar with each others work. Having more writers on the panel, she felt, would defeat this aim. She also added that this particular event was part of a series of activities she had planned to help promote the Masters programme and that all of the events are spearheaded by black writers. These participants are some of the writers who are likely to be teaching on the MA programme, if it manages to go ahead.

My 'disappointment' is still hanging!

Hope this answers your question. Feel free to come back to me if you have any more.


Comments are closed.

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    Calabash Literary Festival
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    I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
    Jacob Ross
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    Kindle
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    Sunrise Pic
    The Bump
    The Long Song
    The Mathematics Of Love
    The New Black Magazine
    The Voice Newspaper
    Transatlantic Slave Trade
    Treasure Beach
    Vegetables
    Vladimir Lucien
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    Yvette Edwards

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    All
    A Cupboard Full Of Coats
    African Writer
    Americanah
    Andrea `Levy
    Arts
    Beauty
    Beverley East
    Black Women
    Blossoms
    Business
    Calabash Literary Festival
    Caribbean
    Cats
    Chimamanda Adichie
    Chris Abani
    Cocks Crowing
    Commonwealth Short Story Competition Winner 2016
    Creatures
    Crime
    Crowning Glory
    Cuts
    Darker Times Publishing
    Debbie Flint
    Debut Novel
    Dub Poet
    Editing
    Emma Darwin
    Exhibit B
    Features
    Flooded
    Freedom
    Gatekeepers
    Goldsmith's University
    Hair
    Heat Wave
    Hedgehog
    Historical Fiction
    Holding On
    I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
    Jacob Ross
    Jamaica
    Joy Francis
    Kadija (George) Sesay
    Kendal Train Crash
    Kindle
    Lifestyle
    Linton Kewesi `Johnson
    Literary Editor
    London
    Lovers
    MA Black British Writing
    Maya Angelou
    MIR Online
    Mother
    Motivation
    Nella Larsen
    Parashar Kulkarni
    Passion
    Patsy Antoine
    Peepal Tree Press
    Poet
    Political
    Politics
    Prejudices
    Protoje
    Psychological
    Publishers
    Publishing
    Quicksand & Passing
    QVC
    Rape
    Readers
    Reaper Of Souls
    Relationships
    Reviews
    SABLE LitMag
    Saturday's Soup
    Short-story.me
    Sister
    Social Media
    Somalia Seaton
    Steve Pope
    Still I Rise
    Sunrise Pic
    The Bump
    The Long Song
    The Mathematics Of Love
    The New Black Magazine
    The Voice Newspaper
    Transatlantic Slave Trade
    Treasure Beach
    Vegetables
    Vladimir Lucien
    War
    Well-being
    Whistling Frogs
    Women
    Words Of Colour
    Writing
    Writing Projects
    Yvette Edwards

    Categories

    All
    A Cupboard Full Of Coats
    African Writer
    Americanah
    Andrea `Levy
    Arts
    Beauty
    Beverley East
    Black Women
    Blossoms
    Business
    Calabash Literary Festival
    Caribbean
    Cats
    Chimamanda Adichie
    Chris Abani
    Cocks Crowing
    Commonwealth Short Story Competition Winner 2016
    Creatures
    Crime
    Crowning Glory
    Cuts
    Darker Times Publishing
    Debbie Flint
    Debut Novel
    Dub Poet
    Editing
    Emma Darwin
    Exhibit B
    Features
    Flooded
    Freedom
    Gatekeepers
    Goldsmith's University
    Hair
    Heat Wave
    Hedgehog
    Historical Fiction
    Holding On
    I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
    Jacob Ross
    Jamaica
    Joy Francis
    Kadija (George) Sesay
    Kendal Train Crash
    Kindle
    Lifestyle
    Linton Kewesi `Johnson
    Literary Editor
    London
    Lovers
    MA Black British Writing
    Maya Angelou
    MIR Online
    Mother
    Motivation
    Nella Larsen
    Parashar Kulkarni
    Passion
    Patsy Antoine
    Peepal Tree Press
    Poet
    Political
    Politics
    Prejudices
    Protoje
    Psychological
    Publishers
    Publishing
    Quicksand & Passing
    QVC
    Rape
    Readers
    Reaper Of Souls
    Relationships
    Reviews
    SABLE LitMag
    Saturday's Soup
    Short-story.me
    Sister
    Social Media
    Somalia Seaton
    Steve Pope
    Still I Rise
    Sunrise Pic
    The Bump
    The Long Song
    The Mathematics Of Love
    The New Black Magazine
    The Voice Newspaper
    Transatlantic Slave Trade
    Treasure Beach
    Vegetables
    Vladimir Lucien
    War
    Well-being
    Whistling Frogs
    Women
    Words Of Colour
    Writing
    Writing Projects
    Yvette Edwards

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